Recording

Hardware

Pick your audio interface based on your needs and budget. If
your OS supports it, Ardour can use it. PCI, USB, Firewire
interfaces, along with the option to use network audio too.

Flexible Recording

True tape-style transport allows any combination of master record and
individual track arming at any time; no prior setup is needed.
Per-track setting of layered, non-layered, or destructive recording
modes. Flexible input monitoring options can handle it automatically
or allow you to take control with individual monitor buttons. Punch
in/out points can be set in a multitude of ways, and can be combined
with loop playback. Stop&Forget feature allows you to cancel a
recording pass and recover the disk space instantly.

Unlimited Multichannel Tracks

No limits on number of tracks, buses, plugins, inserts, or sends.
Tracks may consist of overlapping layered regions, non-overlapping
regions, or true destructive (single-file) regions. Tracks may be
mono, stereo or multichannel. Flexible plugin panner architecture
allows sensible panning of multichannel tracks into buses.
Multichannel tracks also have individual outputs so a multichannel
track can be routed to separate mixer strips for panning & processing,
while still retaining the benefits of one-touch recording and editing.

Mixing

Routing

Route anything to anywhere (for more than ten
years!). Matrix-style patching/routing. Connect Ardour
tracks or busses to hardware, each other, other
applications, the network ... input, output, sends,
inserts, returns all managed in the same way.

Panning

Stereo panning with independent (coupled) width and position.

Automation

Sample accurate automation for everything. Write + Touch
modes. Record control movement or enter automation data with
the mouse. Full copy-n-paste. Automation
data can move with regions or belong to a track.

Plugins

Ardour comes with a handful of builtin plugins for your
everyday needs. Thousands of other plugins, both free,
proprietary and for-cost, are available to download and
install on your system from dozens of plugin makers. 3
major plugin formats supported: AudioUnits (OS X), VST
(Windows & Linux) and LV2 (all platforms).

Hundreds of no-cost plugins in LV2, native VST and AudioUnit formats on
all platforms. On Linux install LV2 plugins with your system
software manager.

AudioUnit (AU) plugin support on OS X, allowing use
of all effects and instruments plugins from Waves,
u-he, iZotope, PSP, Stillwell and many, many other
plugin manufacturers.

VST plugin support on Windows allows access to hundreds
or thousands of plugins from dozens of manufacturers.
Linux VST support provides access to High quality
proprietary plugins on Linux from Loomer,
Pianoteq/Modartt. Excellent open source plugins from
Distrho and others.

Exporting

Export to many different data and file formats, including but
not limited to WAV, AIFF, CAF, BWF, FLAC, Ogg/Vorbis.

Multichannel (>2) file exports. Any number of
channels. Whatever you need.

Third party tools such as AATranslator to convert your entire session for use with
other DAWs including Logic, ProTools, Cubase and more.

Specifications

Your CPU, audio interface and disk system are the only limits
to what you can do with Ardour.

Feature

Ardour Limit

Limiting System Features

Number of tracks

No Limit

Disk system, CPU

Number of busses

No Limit

CPU

Sample Rate

No Limit

audio interface

Channels

No Limit

audio interface, CPU

Sends/Inserts Per Track

No Limit

CPU

Plugins Per Track

No Limit

CPU

Latency

No Limit

Hardware, BIOS, OS kernel, video drivers, Wifi drivers.

As a general rule of thumb, most modern computers will be able
to handle 24 tracks with moderate plugin processing (some EQ
and other less intensive processing per track, plus
compression and reverb on busses) without much of a problem as
long as your latency settings are not too demanding.